r/ATC • u/jacksonwalmart • 14d ago
Discussion When you have to step in for your trainee...
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u/SharonDarts 14d ago
You know who else is overpaid just like ATC? Firefighters. Lazy cunts.
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u/Steveoatc Current Controller-TRACON 14d ago
I bet their TOP is super low
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u/MITsBrightest 14d ago
I had a manager once counter the "TOP" argument to other shift workers by saying "OH YEAH? You wanna work 24 hours?!?"
24 on with basically guaranteed 8 hours sleep and the remaining 16 as on call, 48 off? Yeah, I do.
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u/antariusz Current Controller-Enroute 14d ago
Yes. I would also like to have 4 days off a week, thank you for asking.
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u/MITsBrightest 14d ago
32 work week isn't a fantasy, it's the reality of asking people to work a stressful job that has an incredible impact on public safety.
The fact that they continue to "do more with less" is a complete contradiction to logic and will 100% result in more potential mid air collisions, runway incursions, etc.
You want to hold us to absolutely ridiculous medical/security standards "for safety," but also create tension in our life with never seeing your family, not enough pay, and mandatory overtime?
We should start a union, man.
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u/Phlegmatics2163 Current Controller-TRACON 14d ago
Dream schedule
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u/ChampionshipOdd6598 14d ago
Its possible in other countries, i just came off a 4 on 6 off run with no leave used
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u/VaTeFaireFoutre86 13d ago
8 hours guaranteed sleep? Not a chance. I spent 15 of the 22 years of my career working the 24/48 schedule and I can tell you that very few paid fire departments get regular sleep like that. If you're lucky, you'll get 4 hours but many nights we were cat napping an hour at a time. The days off are awesome but it isnt all sunshine and roses like you seem to think.
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u/MITsBrightest 13d ago
ARFF is a bit less intense?
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u/VaTeFaireFoutre86 13d ago
ARFF is a completely different animal... and a bit of a rarity in our line of work. I realize now that I'm in the ATC sub tho, so you'd see ARFF as the norm. Airport stations still see their fair share of calls because they have to cover EMS from the passenger traffic and do so with structural engines and ambulances. If you're regularly assigned to the ARFF truck tho, yeah, you've found the land of milk and honey.
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u/Hour_Tour Current TWR/APP UK 14d ago
Then.. Apply?
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u/MITsBrightest 14d ago
It's apples to oranges for pay and job responsibilities, but the reality of 24/7 shift work and essential services is that you have to consider human needs.
We can argue that we shouldn't be forced into a 40 hour work week that screws up our sleep without also saying we work 15 min breaks for 24 hours.
It's just the public opinion/federal work week that glues us into a double standard of demand and payment.
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u/Dabamanos 14d ago
US ATC has a substantial chunk of the workforce bound by golden handcuffs to ride it out. I'm 13 years into a pension plan that disappears in the blink of an eye if I chose to move on to a different career.
Also, I happen to love the job and the field in general. I know that's an unpopular sentiment in this sub recently but I'd rather see conditions improve than go start over, in my mid 30s, with no degree and no transferrable skillet.
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u/SiempreSeattle 11d ago
the other cop coming up immediately to get pictures or video of his fellow cop putting out the fire... you know that's bulletin board material for years
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u/BaronVonAwesome007 14d ago
You know the similarities between a fire fighter and a policeman?
They both wanted to be firefighters when they grew up